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The false god looked away from them and into the trees. There was a contemplative look in his golden eyes. “It would be the end of Istri. The end of the world as you know it. The damage my army has caused is nothing in comparison.”
“Can you tell them to stop killing us?” Iryana begged with gritted teeth. “If you’re a god, surely you can do that.”
Thelbiz shook his head. “My army must be strong, they must eat. A deer or a human is still just meat.”
She was shaking with rage. How could she convince someone to stop when they believed they were a god? Believed they had some damned divine mission. They couldn’t fight thousands and thousands of dakii, but this was one man. Made of flesh and bone despite his magic. They could kill one man.
“What about Limhiz, Mhakiza, and Voordiza? Are they going to help you?” Pyetar asked, strained, before she could say something she might regret while at this man’s mercy.
Her mind whirled. Their foe was far more powerful than them, and she didn’t have the first idea how they would actually take him down. But if it were true that there were others gathering magic in the same way… perhaps one of them would be willing to take him down. They couldn’t all be so delusional.
“It’s hard to say.” He looked contemplative again. “Some, surely. But it’s hard to know which side they will fight on this time. Mhakiza has already changed sides once, she could do so again. And Voordiza is always hard to predict. Limhiz, though, I am most sure of. Hopefully, I’ll find them all before Noshtiz does.”
“How are you going to find them?” Iryana asked.
He just stared at her and didn’t answer. Could he sense her intentions? “It would be easy if our magic was what it once was. But our blood is all over Istri now…”
“The more of us that survive, the better, right? Surely there is something you can do to help us.”
“My magic is needed for the war.” He narrowed his eyes at them. “Your people can prepare. Brace themselves. Save as many as you can.”
“They won’t believe we’ve met a god,” Iryana argued back. They wouldn’t believe it because it wasn’t true, but the threat was still real. “Why would they listen to us?”
The fake Thelbiz cocked his head. “Is this what you want from me, Voordiza?”
Iryana exchanged confused looks with Pyetar, but the man was clearly not talking to them.
“Very well,” the man sighed.
The air seemed to sharpen, like it did before lightning struck. Goosebumps spread down Iryana’s arms.
“You want proof?” Then he strode toward her, nearly gliding on the snow. Intent sharpened the curve of his mouth.
Iryana’s eyes flew wide. She struggled to crawl backward but couldn’t do more than thrash in the snow.
“What are you doing?” Pyetar roared in panic, trying to get between them, but Thelbiz just drove him harder down into the snow with a gust of wind.
She froze as the false god crouched in front of her, eyes clinically passing over her sprawled form.
“Iryana!” Pyetar screamed, still struggling.
“You already hold the magic of two gods,” Thelbiz mused, towering over her. “This probably won’t kill you.”
“Get away from her!”
She could barely keep her eyes open from how hard the wind was pushing her down, snow flying up around them in a dizzying spiral. His golden eyes seemed to glow against the sea of white and gray sky above them.
His hand pressed against her coat, right over her left collarbone, his free hand gripping her other shoulder to hold her in place. Her eyes flew to where his hand was against her, her whole body tensing against what it was about to do to her. Then something—his power—surged through her body.
Iryana screamed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Her screech was absorbed by the wintry air.
It wasn’t pain, but the feeling of his magic overwhelming her system that made her scream.
As the magic surged back out of her, a strange sensation fluttered across her skin beneath the man’s hand. Her scream died off, but panic still radiated through her.
